Til the Wheels Fall Off
by domina tempore
Summary: In which Ryan and Esposito get into a bar fight… birthday present for my lovely SisAngel! Total friendship fic, no slash.


**Castle:** _'Til the Wheels Fall Off_

_by: jewel of athos _

_Summary: In which Ryan and Esposito get into a bar fight… birthday present for my lovely SisAngel!_

_Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters and locations belong to their respective owners. I own only my original storylines. No copyright infringement intended!_

_Author's Note: Angel, honey, you don't want to know how long it took me to finally choose which fic I was going to write for your birthday. Every time I talked to you, I had a different idea, and I just couldn't choose… but I REALLY like this one haha ;). So thus, I present it now to you, with love. Happy birthday, girl! 333_

_Special thanks: To Deej(Diner Guy here) and Jden on Psychfic for the beta! *smishes*_

*~_~**o**0**o**~_~*

Ryan took a swallow of his beer, grinning and nodding at his partner. "Yeah, that was a great one. And what about the time that you and Jenny and I -" He had to stop when Esposito nearly choked on his own drink from laughing.

"Oh, and that guy?" he spluttered. "With the thing?"

"Yeah, that thing!" Ryan shook his head fondly. "Good times."

"The best, bro." Esposito held up pinched fingers, and Ryan fed the birds. "And to many more, right?"

"I'll drink to that." They toasted vigorously. And for about eight seconds, everything was right with their world.

"Hey, Honeymilk." And the world was flawed again.

Ryan turned around to face the guy who had spoken. He recognized him, but it took him a second to place the face with a name; the other man had transferred to a different precinct several months back.

"Oh, hey Breckinsdale," he greeted, his voice civil in spite of his annoyance at hearing the old nickname. The guy looked pretty drunk, and Ryan didn't want to start anything if he didn't have to. "Long time no see, huh?"

"Yeah, too long."

"Mhm. And you even still remember all the stupid jokes and nicknames, I see. I thought that stuff was behind us, man."

"Well I suppose it is, isn't it? Huh. You still with that slut you were dating?"

"Excuse me?" Ryan rose halfway out of his seat. He could feel Javier glowering behind him. "What did you just say?"

"I said she's a slut." Breckinsdale shrugged, taking a gulp of a fresh drink. "You got a problem with that?"

"Yeah, I got a problem with that! Javi, did he just say what I think he just said?"

Esposito stood up. "I think he did. And I think it's safe to say that we've got a problem. And if you don't take it back, Brecky, we're going to have a much _bigger_ problem."

Ryan nodded. "And it's going to involve fists, bruises, and bloody broken noses."

"Oh! I'm so _scared." _Breckinsdale snarked. "Honeymilk Ryan is gonna give me a big, bad schoolyard beating. Please. Everyone knows you're the wimp of the Twelfth. Poor little boy needs his girlfriend to look after him. Or maybe this girl you hang out with -" Esposito's fist flew out suddenly, smashing the irreverent cop in the face. He crumpled to the ground.

Ryan raised an eyebrow at his partner. "Dude, really? You're gonna prove his point?"

"He ticked me off! Besides, he's an idiot. The last guy you need to prove anything to is him, Kev." Ryan frowned slightly.

"What about his buddies over there who look like they're about to pummel us?" he asked, rising fully out of his seat.

Esposito looked up, seeing at once the group that his friend was talking about. "Okay, so them I might worry about a little."

"You know, you don't _have_ to stay and get beat with me," Ryan said, drawing up his fists nervously. "It's enough that you hit the guy; I can take care of his clowns."

"No, not gonna happen Bro," Esposito told him as he copied his stance. "'Til the wheels fall off, remember?"

Ryan grinned. "Right. Thanks."

"Hey, no problem." Breckinsdale's burly friends closed in. "What are partners for, right?"

*~_~**o**0**o**~_~*

White lights glared in the plain room where Esposito and Ryan waited. They were seated in hard plastic chairs behind a gray table, nursing bloody noses and bruised fists, as well as other injuries. Javier had a split lip and a good-sized bump on his head, and Ryan had two black eyes, one swollen half shut. His partner glanced at him. "Dude, you look like a raccoon," he informed him.

"Hey, I'd like to think that they make me look tough," Ryan sniffed, and grimaced. "Besides, did you see the guy's face when I hit him back? _So_ worth it!"

"Yeah, that was great! And what about Breckinsdale when he managed to get up and you knocked him out again? Man, that was priceless." They fed the birds again.

"Oh, and when _Demming_ walked in to try and break it up, and you decked him -?"

"You knocked out Demming?" The boys looked up as Beckett entered the room. They waved.

"Oh, hey Beckett!" Esposito smiled. "No, I didn't knock your man _out_, I knocked him _over_. Big difference."

"And in his defense, if someone grabs you in a fight, the first instinct is to swing at 'em."

"Yeah, how was I supposed to know he was trying to help?"

"Right?"

"Uh-huh." Kate seemed faintly amused, but she kept it professional. "You guys are both _idiots_; you know that, right?" Well, sort of professional.

"I was just helping a brother out," Javier defended himself.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, and I was just defending Jenny."

"Alright, I understand your reasons - and I'm not saying that I don't agree with you, either - but you started a bar fight with _six cops_. You went up against some of our own, and the commissioner isn't happy about it. And you know what happens when he gives the Chief grief, right?" Ryan and Esposito exchanged a questioning glance, and Kate rolled her eyes. "We all suffer," she hissed.

"She does kinda speak the truth," Esposito said.

"Darn right I do!" She held their gazes for a moment longer before finally cracking a smile. "Luckily, the Chief understands what you guys were doing, too. He's not happy; but he's got witnesses who say that while you two were the _physical_ aggressors," she raised an eyebrow at Javier, "you were far outnumbered, and you weren't the ones who started the conflict."

"Wait. Does that mean we're off the hook?"

"No!" Kate rolled her eyes again. "In the interest of justice, you're going to get a formal reprimand, and a two week suspension for misconduct. That should last you until the swelling goes down."

"Well, we sorta needed a break anyways, huh Javi?"

"I think so, Kev. It's like a mandatory vacation!"

"Mhm. More like an 'I can't have you show your faces at a crime scene like that so heal up fast' sort of thing," Beckett corrected, heading for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mystery writer out there texting me with questions about 'uniforms in a good, honest brawl between folk'; so now I have to go deal with him, thank you very much. But you're free to go."

"Yes!" The boys hi-fived, then winced as muscles pulled. Moaning in pain, the two eased out of their chairs and limped out of the interrogation room.

They were nearly to the elevators when the doors opened and Jenny exited. She ran over to Ryan.

"Oh, Kevin! Gosh, what did you two do to yourselves?"

Ryan exchanged a guilty look with his partner. "We were in kind of a fight..." he mumbled.

"A fight? Did the two of you start it?"

"What? No! Some guy who just transferred out of Twelfth got a little drunk and was insulting you, and I got mad."

"Yeah, then he insulted Kev and I, and I hit him."

"Before I got a chance," Ryan finished.

"And he beat the two of you up for it?"

"Him? Psh please! A few of his buddies got mad when we -"

_"I_ -"

"- when Javi decked him, and things sort of went downhill from there."

"We got in some good punches, though," Javi assured her, a hopeful smile on his lips.

Jenny looked between the two of them, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "So you two got beat up because some idiot made a comment about me?"

Ryan shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Though Beckett said that we're the idiots," Esposito threw in.

Ryan glared at him. "Dude, really? You think that's going to help? She's already mad at me for fighting..."

"No, I think it's sweet," Jenny assured him, turning his face gently so he met her eyes. "A little stupid to get into all of that trouble over a silly comment, but really, really sweet that you would defend me that way." She pecked his lips briefly. "Thank you."

Esposito raised a bruised hand. "I defended your honor too."

"Thank you, Javier," Jenny gave his cheek a light pat. "How about I buy you dinner?"

Javier's face brightened. "Oh! Can we go to that Ninja Cafe place that you guys always rave about?"

Jenny laughed. "Yes," she promised, hooking an arm through each of theirs. "And I'll even pay cab fare all the way across the city."

"Oh, now you're talking..."

_fin._

*~_~**o**0**o**~_~*

_A/N: Happy birthday, sweetie *smish*. I love my QS ;). _


End file.
